1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to parabolic antennas and more particularly to a novel antenna which is portable and may be readily assembled in situ without skilled workers and without special tools.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the past, it has been the conventional practice to fabricate the dish-like reflector for a parabolic antenna in a single structure which is subsequently assembled with an articulating base either at the site of usage or at the place of manufacture and shipped as a completed assembly. Either of these procedures have raised many difficulties and disadvantages which stem largely from the fact that the size and weight of the dish-like reflector is large and heavy and cannot readily be assembled with the articulating base at the site of usage without skilled personnel and special equipment. When assembling the reflector at the construction site or factory, the total unit is difficult to transport and cost of transportation is expensive.
In an effort to solve these problems, it is the current practice to fabricate the reflector in a multiplicity of parts which may be readily assembled at a later time with the base at the site of usage. In this manner, the reflector may be easily shipped in smaller sections and each section can be handled and manipulated by unskilled assemblers. However, problems and difficulties have been encountered when assembling the plurality of sections into a completed reflector which stem largely from the fact that not only must the total reflector be firmly attached to the support but the reflector requires minute tuning in order to achieve maximum efficiency. During the tuning procedure, the reflector is moved on the base until the desired transmission of radio wave reception has been achieved. Prior mounting arrangements for the reflector sections do not permit adequate tuning for the entire reflector and suitable mounting attachments for the individual sections in the reflector are cumbersome and awkward so that assembly is difficult.
Therefore, a long standing need has existed to provide an inexpensive parabolic antenna which is composed of a plurality of individual reflector sections that are readily and easily mounted on a supporting frame whereby tuning of the assembled reflector may be readily achieved.